An entire bedroll! She hasn't had an entire bedroll for days and days. She looks longingly at the stew pot for a moment but decides one bowl is probably enough for now, and snuggles down into the blankets, using the cushion as a pillow. Once she's happy with the arrangement of bedding it takes only a few seconds for her to be fast asleep. 

The next morning, there's a teenager in the dungeon outside Allegra's cell – no more than twenty years old – sitting on a desk and looking intently at something invisible in the air. There's an open book on the desk, in front of a rapier lying on the desk as well, and she's doing motions above it with her hands that looks like a cross between complicated crochet and sign language. A moment later, she slams her fists on the table and grunts.

Nobody seems to have noticed she's awake or demanded anything of her yet, so she quietly keeps her eyes open just a little bit and observes. Could be some kind of local ritual technique, that sounds like something important to pick up.

She sighs, looks up, then tilts her head. She notices that Allegra is awake now, and walks over to her. She had already cleared Allegra's pot, bowl and cup from the room.

"Hi! Hello, Allegra." Her voice is cheerful and bright. "You're famous now, everyone is talking about you. Everyone. They'll have so many questions to ask you. Oh yeah, we'll be treating you as an initiate, apparently, so welcome! Conradia was supposed to break the news to you, but I guess she's running late. What circle are you? I'm first-circle, but I'm really close to second and I can't wait to be second-circle! If I do, they'll finally let me fight on the front lines and not just cast Magic Missile again and again." She rolls her eyes.

"Wait, do you even have circles? Your world's magic is different, so maybe not."

Okay, rumbled. Allegra sits up, but can't be bothered to disentangle herself enough to stand yet.

"At least answering questions is easy! I'm second rank in Spring, I'm not sure how that translates to your system yet." She tries to match the girl's tone, although she's still quite bleary. I've rather had enough fighting, she doesn't say. "The front lines, huh?" She wants to ask what it is they are fighting, but that might be suspicious and also she isn't convinced she'd like the answer.

"Hm, yeah, that doesn't sound like the magic I know. Yes, I'm really eager to put my rapier skills to use. Oh, and spellstrike! I can't wait to get to second-circle so I can hang Frigid Touch – that was the spell I was trying to prepare earlier. What sorts of things can you do with being a second rank Spring wizard?"

Conradia arrives a moment later.

"Congratulations, Allegra. Rendon, the High Priest, has said that we are granting you provisional status as an initiate provided that you are supervised at all times, do not enter the armory or scriptorium, and are under the effect of Geas. You are still permitted to leave at any time, in which case we will erase your memory, dispel the Geas, and teleport you and your items to the nearest city as we talked about yesterday. Geas, or in this case Lesser Geas, is a spell that can compel or forbid certain actions. You don't need to move for me to cast it on you. It is a ranged spell."

Her tone grows stern. "Do not try to resist or throw off the spell." Not that she could – Conradia is a seventh-circle wizard, and it is very difficult to resist a seventh-circle wizard's spells unless you are also one – but she doesn't want to have to re-prepare her spells for a quarter-hour just because Allegra wanted to be difficult and got lucky. 

"You will obey commands I give which are prefaced with 'I command'. You will not enter the armory or scriptorium. You will not move more than sixty feet away from the person assigned to watch over you. You will not harm any person in the Bronze Orchard, or destroy any items within. You will not cast any magic except when expressly instructed."

She only incants in this case, but it takes six seconds. Lesser Geas. The spell descends on Allegra's mind like a spiked cage. 

"Healing, putting back limbs, corpse disposal..."

She's interrupted by Conradia returning. For that, she gets to her feet. Everything hurts, but that's not exactly surprising; she often feels worse the first time she properly rests after pushing herself.

She doesn't like the sound of the geas at all, but it's definitely better than the offered alternatives, at least for now. She doesn't know how to stop trying to resist a spell, but she's not actually good enough at it to succeed, which is probably just as well.

"Thank you," she says. "Uh, what happens if I hurt someone or destroy something by accident? I don't intend to, but..."

Conradia unlocks the cell and pulls the door to let Allegra out.

"If you break the terms of the geas, then it will apply its curse on you. Every aspect of your body and mind will be diminished, slightly at first, but worse as time goes on. Your body will become weaker and frailer, and your mind will become dim and dull. However, the curse will retract itself if you resume obeying the terms after twenty-four hours, provided you do not break it again during that time frame. In your hypothetical case, you would only suffer the effects of the curse for a day, so long as you did not harm someone or break something else. I will be your assigned minder for now."

She leads her out of the dungeon and into a corridor. The walls are the same smooth gray stone, but there's engraved detailing running along the walls. 

"I will take you to speak with the High Priest first. His name is Rendon Salian. Now that we're treating you as an initiate, you can just call him Rendon. He can also cast Lesser Restoration on you – you look...tired." She purses her lips.

"Okay, that is a much more sensible way of doing that than I was worried about," she says; maybe if she makes conversation confidently, everyone will assume she deserves that level of confidence in her situation? She's just about getting used to the language now, it's easier to work with if she just lets it deal with word choices for her rather than worrying about it too much.

She tries to keep up and not slow Conradia down, but also keeps trying to search the engraved detail for any more clues of what she's got herself into.

"Sorry - I'll probably be okay in a day or two, I haven't been getting much sleep lately," she apologises. "Do I have responsibilities as an initiate apart from the terms of the geas, or will Rendon cover that?"

The detailing is a simple pattern of lines in a braid, colored in silver. They seem to be going to a more central location now – the corridors are wider and have higher ceilings. There are people that walk past them, glancing at Allegra but never more than that. None of them try to stop them or make conversation.

"Lesser Restoration removes fatigue, so it will help. Rendon will cover that. Initiates have similar responsibilities to soulsold or ordained people – you'll have say in what jobs you'll do. Though you probably won't be doing any of the regular work like maintenance or guarding anytime soon. Researching your magic is way more important.

As an initiate, you will be paid for your service weekly, although since there's very little around to spend it on, most people simply have the church hold on to it and then withdraw it when they want to go shopping. You can choose to withdraw your pay at any time, however, and keep it in your room instead if you wish. Base pay is based on how strong you are. We have ways of testing it, but we're not sure about how you'll fit into our scheme. The minimum pay is one gold coin per week." She reaches into her robe and draws a single gold coin, weighing a third of an ounce.

If you render exceptional service or are sent out on a dangerous mission, you may get bonus pay or get a share in spoils, depending on the situation. In the case you decide to leave, we will give you all of the pay you have not yet withdrawn and your equipment, but of course we will take back any equipment or magic items we may have lent you for missions, except for those you have paid for to keep. We produce many magic items here – that's my main job, actually – and one of the perks of working here is that you can buy magic items and equipment much cheaper than buying it at say, Absalom. We charge much less for labor if the customer is someone that's working for the church."

They're approaching a door now. The door has intricate geometric carvings on it, with a symbol enclosed in the circle in the middle of it: a magic rod tipped with a gem laid perpendicular to a greatsword.

She studies the people who are walking past, trying to place them from clothing styles and complexions, although she is starting to believe that she is in fact a long, long way from the Empire now.

She lets her face light up on seeing the gold coin; no need to make them think she's insensitive to positive incentives, now.

On seeing the door carving, she realises that she failed to pick up her rod from the cell; she'd been still acting like a prisoner rather than an ally. Oh well, maybe they'll issue her with a better one if they do a lot of enchanting here; it's not like combat spells are her speciality, although she can probably muster a couple to demonstrate with enough practice time.

The people walking past are generally wearing simple working clothes, although all of the clothes are surprisingly clean and free of patches, rips, or holes. All the people that walk past them are humans.

"We're here," she says, knocking on the door. "I won't come in with you, but I'll stay by the door so that your Lesser Geas doesn't trigger."

She opens the door to let Allegra in, and closes it after her.

Rendon's office is similar to other offices: there's a desk, there's chairs, and there's shelves to the side. The floor is stone tile, and the furniture is made of richly varnished wood, except for Rendon's 'chair', which really looks more like a throne than a chair. His chair is plush and padded, with silver embroidery worked into it. From the looks of it, it seems to be real silver. Rendon has a similarly opulent outfit, with long flowing gray and silver robes that have the same embroidery, as well as a headband similar to Conradia, but somehow has even more gems put in it.

He doesn't seem to be human. He has the general shape of one, but that is where the similarities end. His skin is dark purple, and he has horns half a foot long sticking straight out of his head. His ears are pointed, and he has a tail like a salamander's peeking out of the bottom of his robe. His eyes seem to glow slightly. His black hair is cut short, short enough to point upwards.

The light in the room is brighter than the light of the corridors. It's bright enough to be compared to sunlight. It doesn't seem to be emitted by anything in particular – the entire ceiling is just glowing brightly.

"Welcome to the Bronze Orchard, Allegra Highspire. I am the High Priest Rendon Salian. Please sit." He gestures to one of the padded armchairs in front of his desk. His voice feels soft and warm, despite his appearance.

He stands from his own chair and walks over to her. "But first, I was told you needed this." He incants, and his right hand seems to glow a bright yellow. He touches Allegra, and refreshing positive energy suffuses her. "Do you feel better?"

Okay, so maybe this is a Daeva. That would make sense, this does seem to be the kind of place you might find a reclusive Commonwealth species.

That's some funky lightstone they've got there, too.

She is just about to sit in the delightful armchair - it's very reassuring that the chairs are not clearly less comfortable than the chair behind the desk, that's always a bad sign - when he walks over and starts casting, and then touches her. Clearly that's a thing now. She absolutely does not flinch and only someone fairly observant would be able to tell that she really wanted to.

The effect is much nicer than any energising ritual she'd previously been subjected to.

"Thank you," she says, in a very heartfelt manner. "Yes, I feel a lot better." She takes a seat as previously instructed. "I'm sure you have plenty of questions for me, I wouldn't want to waste any of your time."

"I'm sorry. I should have told you what I was about to do before doing it – you have no reference for what our world's magic is like, after all." He sounds genuinely remorseful.

"The spell I cast on you is called Lesser Restoration. It gives you energy: removing fatigue and dispelling minor afflictions." He sits back down.

"Yes, let's talk. So, you are from another realm with different magic, and came to be here through a magical accident involving what I believe is some sort of artifact. You are a trained soldier-wizard of the Citizen Guard, which is the military force of Urizen. Did you defect?" His demeanor is that of a priest at confession, like you could tell him everything.

The Damianites care a lot about comfort, and this extends to furniture. The Conradians don't really care about furniture, but neither do they turn it away. The armchair is enchanted to fit whatever entity sits in it: as Allegra rests her weight on the chair, the pads and cushions adjust themselves to fit her better. The effect is rather unnerving to watch and feel at first, however, as the cloth and down squirm and shift like a bag of worms.

It seems like today is just going to be full of surprises, even if they are primarily surprisingly good surprises. Allegra is highly trained in not looking uncomfortable or weirded out by unnerving things happening and now actually has the energy to implement this training.

"Conradia did explain the spell to me, it's just not usual in my culture to touch people - all our 'touch' range spells can be delivered from anywhere you could plausibly touch the person if you wanted to," she explains. "A 'regio' is usually naturally occurring, although it can be manipulated by 'Eternals' to do what they want; a magical item specifically designed could also redirect one, I suppose."

She considers directly answering his question, but decides to see if she can get away with deflection for the moment; it's not entirely a conscious choice, she's spent so long rehearsing how to deflect on the subject that it's instinctive. If he's also reading her mind, then this is somewhat pointless, but the spell he cast did have an obvious effect that was different from the earlier one.

"Ah, for us, touch means touch." He pauses for half a round.

"What an amazing advantage it would be, to be able to deliver a touch range spell without actually touching the person. Many touch range spells are damaging or have a negative effect. I believe you've met Agnes? She is a magus – magi specialize in delivering these touch range spells using their weapons. If I wanted to deliver a touch range spell like Bestow Curse, I would have to lunge at the enemy and touch them. Not necessarily their skin: touching a horn or hair or armor would be sufficient." He smiles. Despite the fact that he just talked about cursing someone, his smile is full of kindness.

Rendon is not reading her mind. They are under the effect of Mage's Private Sanctum now, so no more mind reading. 

"I've heard of places where magic works differently, but there are too few of them and they are too varied to be grouped under the same name. Is it that regio have standardized characteristics in your world, which is why you have a word for them? And what are Eternals? Are they gods?"

He laces his fingers together, resting his elbows on the armrests. "There is no shame in turning away from an unworthy master," he says, sagelike.

"Our touch spells are all beneficial or at least neutral - offensive spells are delivered by implement, like the rod I came in with. You do have to tag someone with those, although you can be gentle enough not to hurt them.

Full battle mages can deliver them at staff length, which sounds a bit like your magi?

Regio have some standard characteristics - they generally make ritual casting of a specific realm easier, they're essentially a place where one of the realms of magic is - nearby?

Some of them contain portals to pocket dimensions between the material world and their Realm, which creatures who couldn't survive on each other's side can meet in - the most plausible mechanism for me appearing in a different place would be that I stepped in one of these by accident, then stepped out elsewhere, which is rare but not unheard of.

Eternals are creatures of the Realms, the largest of such, generally they have a domain - a place within the realm that they rule, or sometimes that they are - and, think very differently to people? They get worshipped as gods in some places, but they're just large magical entities which are quite limited in some ways."

If they're up for playing the 'I know and you know but you don't have to directly admit it' game about her current status with the Guard, that is absolutely fine by her, she'll continue to politely ignore the insinuation without outright denying it.

Meanwhile, she's still a little wary, but it's so nice to feel knowledgeable and appreciated; it's hard not to just relax into it and confide everything in them. Chaotic Evil, she reminds herself. They haven't even fed her breakfast yet.

"Are all of your offensive spells like that? Do you not have any ranged offensive spells, like Magic Missile? Ah, apologies, you wouldn't know what that is. Magic Missile is an arcane spell that creates unerring bolts of energy. It is a very popular spell because it never misses – the spell homes in on the target.

Hm. The way you describe realms make them sound like a specific place and also a school of magic? Planes here do not correspond to specific schools of magic.

The wizards would love to talk to you more about those portals. Creating permanent Gates is something that only very, very powerful wizards can do, usually those imbued with divine or otherworldly power." Given her description, it doesn't seem like the Guard would be able to get to her. Even if they could, it seems like it would be enough of a hassle for them not to bother, especially as it seems like she didn't have a high position.

"Eternals sound exactly like our gods, then! They are magical and think very differently from people, but ascended mortals have values and thoughts much more similar to us.

But enough about magic. Tell me...tell me about your training in the Citizen Guard. How did they train you? Was it tough? Were your instructors kind to you or harsh? Why did you join?"

Rendon totally has noticed Allegra's deflection, but he wants to approach this matter delicately so she doesn't reject the ideas out of hand. He doesn't want to recruit – the church of Conrad does not do that – but he does want her to come away with a complete and accurate picture of what Conrad stands for before rejecting Him out of hand. 

"I don't think the ranged thing is a fundamental limit of magic, but it's certainly a practical one as far as the magic we know goes - if you want to affect something at range, you have to involve some kind of intermediary, and it's always a ritual rather than just a spell.

Realms are both places and - schools of magic, yes, although not split up anything like that word implies. More the kind of place that 'plane' implies, yes.

It's possible to create a regio, but it's a long term project consuming a lot of resources and I'm not convinced I know a sure-fire recipe, although I know some of the theory behind how it could work. It would probably depend how - close? - we are to the Realms of magic, whether it could work at all here. Generally it's much easier if you can get an Eternal's attention and sponsorship to the project, which is a bit of a chicken and egg situation if you don't have a single regio to begin with - although if your magic can't detect them, or doesn't distinguish them from noise, there might be plenty already that nobody has had the right tools to study?

Citadel Guard - or I think it's formally The Guard of the Citadel but nobody calls it that - not Citizen Guard. Uh, standard basic army training for a while, a lot of running and being shouted at and formations and all that. The ones who could run in full armour and still parry with a sword afterwards went on to front line training, steady hands to physick, those who were left and had a bit of ritual theory - like me - to the ritual auxiliary. It was a bit of a shock to the system at first, but nothing like actually being in a combat situation, and the ritual auxiliary training was a bit disappointing, to be honest; I think by that point they were worried we'd get bored and wander off back to a wizard-tower with their training, so they weren't inclined to push us any more.

I joined because it was the easiest way to get out of my parents' wizard-tower and not have to think too much about where to go next; not many Urizeni are very keen on a career that involves enforced physical activity or following orders, so the army is always recruiting."

He's almost succeeded at putting her at her ease, she's almost forgotten she's in a hostile environment at all; it appears 'magic' and 'herself' are some of her favourite conversational topics, and it's much easier just to indulge in them than to consider what might come next.

"Yes, I'm not sure we would have regio here. Indeed, I'm not sure whether your world's rituals would work here at all, though perhaps they might. It is said that people learned arcane magic by attempting to duplicate god-given divine magic. Slowly, through millennia, wizards and the like have been able to refine and improve upon that initial imitation. Perhaps it's the same with your world's magic. The other possible scenario is that your world's rituals will simply fail to work here at all, although I'm hoping that's not the case." They would really stand to benefit.

"I'm sorry for that embarrassing mistake. Does everyone in your country live in wizard towers? Your country must be known for its magic, then. Here, only fearsome wizards live in wizard towers, and usually only they and their familiar live there. Perhaps their family, if they have one. They also usually are laden with traps to stop intruders. No one else. Or is your world's version of wizard towers different from ours?"

Ah, an opening. Let's open this can of worms!

"Was there any particular reason you were so eager to escape your parents' wizard tower?"

"We'll have to find something to replace crystal mana, I'm afraid I don't have any on me to study even, but I'd know what would do the job if I was holding it, or within sight if I can cast Detect Magic.

I'm not sure wizard towers is the exact right translation, you don't have a specific word in this language; they're ancient buildings from a long-dead race that was larger than humans that our people have taken over, mostly extended family size, some of them are larger or have accreted a town around them. Some people go in for traps, mostly for dangerous wildlife; I hear Redoubt still has orc brigands sometimes and they're a bit more security conscious down there, the high mountains tend to be inaccessible enough not to bother.

My parents... wanted me to be a musician. I know enough about the music of the spheres to teach it, but tragically I'm utterly tone deaf."

It's clear that there are Additional Worms in this can, but Allegra is especially keen right now not to show weakness or complain about things, and explaining the additional worms would involve doing that. Her trying-to-be-casual-and-flippant-about-it tone on the last statement especially is clearly covering a well of pain.